{"id":44,"date":"2018-12-10T16:46:16","date_gmt":"2018-12-10T16:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/?p=44"},"modified":"2021-03-13T21:25:57","modified_gmt":"2021-03-13T21:25:57","slug":"asian-arowana-interesting-larger-species-advanced-fish-keepers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/asian-arowana-interesting-larger-species-advanced-fish-keepers\/fish","title":{"rendered":"Asian Arowana: Interesting Larger Species For Advanced Fish Keepers"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>Asian Arowana Ideal Big Tank Species<\/h3>\n<p>Looking for an unusual species for your Big Tank (and we mean big)? Then why not consider an Asian Arowana. These are distinct from the African species, with all belonging to the Sceleropages family. There are current differences of opinion regarding the many colour varieties with some classifying them as separate species while others think they are strains of the same species. Currently, there are 6 identified variations; these being:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Scleropages_aureus\">Scleropages aureus<\/a> &#8211; (Red-Tailed) Golden Arowana<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Scleropages_formosus\">Scleropages formosus<\/a>\u00a0 &#8211; Green Arowana,<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><a style=\"color: #0000ff;\" href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Scleropages_jardinii\">Scleropages jardinii<\/a>\u00a0 &#8211; Australian Arowana<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Scleropages legendrei &#8211; Red Arowana,<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Scleropages leichardti\u00a0 &#8211; Spotted Arowana<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Scleropages macrocephalus\u00a0 &#8211; (Yellow Tailed) Silver Arowana<\/span><\/h3>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_48\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-48\" class=\"wp-image-48 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/12\/Silver-arowana-2-300x135.jpg\" alt=\"Large Silver Asian Arowana\" width=\"300\" height=\"135\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/12\/Silver-arowana-2-300x135.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/12\/Silver-arowana-2-768x346.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/12\/Silver-arowana-2-624x281.jpg 624w, https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/12\/Silver-arowana-2-750x338.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/12\/Silver-arowana-2.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-48\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Large Silver Arowana Image: Contentus\/Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n<p>All species are often referred to as Chinese Dragon Fish and a host of myths and legends surround them in some parts of Asia. This mythological status means they are popular pets, (they are said to radiate luck, wealth and prosperity onto their owner and household). However, this combined with habitat destruction has put incredible strain on the wild population. So much so that Asian Arowana\u2019s are now listed as an endangered species and are on the 2006 <em>International Union for Conservation of Nature<\/em> (IUCN) Red List. This means that the buying and selling of Arowana&#8217;s fall under the auspices of CITES (Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna).<\/p>\n<h3>Buy a Captive Bred Arowana<\/h3>\n<p>Fortunately, all species are relatively easy to breed in captivity providing the right conditions are met. So virtually every one you see for sale has been bred in fish farms in Indonesia and Singapore. However, demand still greatly exceeds supply and buying an Arowana on a whim is fortunately beyond the means of most beginning aquarists.<\/p>\n<p>Now when buying one your fish will come with its own birth certificate confirming it is captive bred and it will also be microchipped so any individual fish can be identified.\u00a0 Despite this, they are still almost impossible to obtain in the USA as the required permit is normally only available to Zoos and public Aquariums, however, they are available in Europe and the UK where a small Green one can be obtained for around \u00a31000 currently.<\/p>\n<h3>Should I get an Asian Arowana<\/h3>\n<p>Should you be considering buying one here are a few things to think about:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Asian Arowana&#8217;s grow very large \u2013 fully grown they can easily reach 3ft and thus will need a big tank. Nothing less than 8ft by 4ft is suitable for a grown one, so unless you can accommodate this don\u2019t even consider buying a small one as they grow quickly.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>They are carnivorous so will need a good mix of live foods such as feeder fish, earthworms, and large crickets. They will also accept high-quality dead food such as shrimps and lean meat. Poultry is best avoided due to the high risk of infection from raw chicken. Smaller specimens will also take pellet fish food.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Any companions must be suitably robust. An Arowana will regard anything it can fit in its mouth as food and even bottom dwellers such as small catfish are unlikely to last long. Given they like soft, and slightly acidic water possible tank mates would include large South American Cichlids and other large species such as Pacus or Giant Gouramis.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Their diet will put a lot of strain on the filtration system meaning external canister filters are going to be required preferably with some form of trickle system. This will add to the space requirements and the cost.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>All Asian Arowana are all renowned jumpers so if your tank doesn\u2019t have a strong and secure lid you will have a dead one on your hands. In the wild they have been known to jump over 3ft out of the water and given their muscular bodies they can easily break a flimsy tank hood should the mood take them.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div id=\"attachment_47\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-47\" class=\"wp-image-47 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/12\/Arowana-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Silver Arowana &amp; Giant Gourami\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/12\/Arowana-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/12\/Arowana-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/12\/Arowana-624x416.jpg 624w, https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/12\/Arowana-750x500.jpg 750w, https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2018\/12\/Arowana.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-47\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Arowanas need suitable tank mates &#8211; even the biggest will find a Giant Gourami too much of a mouthful! Image: Contentus\/Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Arowana A Great Show Fish<\/h2>\n<p>Despite the drawbacks keeping an Arowana can be a rewarding challenge for the more experienced aquarist. Further for those who enjoy showing their fish entering a fine specimen is a sure way of picking up a few prizes.<\/p>\n<p>So there we have it, our quick overview of keeping this fascinating species. A little big for you but still fancy something unusual then how about a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/moray-eels-fascinating-additions-to-marine-aquariums\/fish\">Moray Eel<\/a> or if you want something smaller and easy to keep how about a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/blue-gourami-hardy-additions-to-a-community-tank\/fish\">Blue Gourami<\/a>. Whatever fish make great pets!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Asian Arowana Ideal Big Tank Species Looking for an unusual species for your Big Tank (and we mean big)? Then why not consider an Asian Arowana. These are distinct from the African species, with all belonging to the Sceleropages family. There are current differences of opinion regarding the many colour varieties with some classifying them&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[13,16,14,15,17,19,18],"class_list":["post-44","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fish","tag-asian-arowana","tag-australian-arowana","tag-golden-arowana","tag-green-arowana","tag-red-arowana","tag-silver-arowana","tag-spotted-arowana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1007,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44\/revisions\/1007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/pets\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}